Proper Pathway Illumination With Landscape Lights

Landscaping lighting is a small but integral part of your home's exterior design. Effective pathway lights can enhance the beauty, convenience, and safety of your home at night. Many varieties of outdoor light are available on the market today, but only a select few can give you the type of pathway lighting that you need to maintain your home's curb appeal.

Garden Lights

A garden light is a fixture with a shade that directs light downward. This is great for illuminating pathways. You want to be able to see where you are placing your feet without becoming distracted by the bright glare of a light.

Keeping the direction of the light toward the ground makes the pathway the focal point of a garden light. Shades on garden lights can be customized to blend seamlessly with traditional, contemporary, rustic, and modern homes.

Bollard Lights

A bollard light has the same shape as a steel bollard or column you might see in a parking lot. Bollard lights provide lighting in all directions. This makes them a great choice for illuminating areas where a pathway abuts a flowerbed.

Keep in mind that the light produced by a bollard fixture will be brighter than that of a garden light. You may want to limit bollards to the beginning or end of a pathway so that they can serve as a focal point and draw the eye toward the pathway without shedding too much light on your yard.

Flush Lights

If you have trees near your pathway, you might want to consider installing some flush lights along the path. Flush lights are inset into the pathway itself. A low wattage bulb provides soft upward illumination. Flush lights don't give the targeted light that a spotlight would.

The light a flush light provides is softer and more diffused. This prevents the upward beam from becoming a distraction in your landscape. Just remember to stagger the placement of flush lights so that your pathway doesn't transform into a runway.

Consider the type of foliage that adjoins your pathway, then place a light fixture that will pair well with the height and thickness of the foliage to achieve the proper balance of light in your landscape.

Pathway lighting plays an important role in safety and curb appeal. You can use a combination of garden lights, bollard lights, and flush lights to create an illuminated pathway that will provide a soft ambiance to your landscape. Contact a business like Lanelight for more information about pathway lighting.

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